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Is Food Medicine? Lessons From a Household Survey on Plants Used to Manage Anaemia in Kilifi County, Kenya

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Food Security and Safety Volume 2

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Abstract

The phrase “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food,” coined by Hippocrates over 2500 years ago finds its way into our lifestyles today. In this study, a cross-sectional household survey of the most frequently mentioned nutri/medicinal plants that are used in anaemia management in Kilifi County of Kenya was done. The results obtained show that anaemia is a notable intractable nutritional disorder in the malaria-endemic region of Kilifi County. Out of the 541 households that were sampled, 92.8% mentioned that they had experienced an episode in the past 3 years. Most of the households (95.7%) that used herbal medicine to treat anaemia reported 78.1% complete recovery (self-reported recovery) from anaemia. Most of the nutri/medicinal plants mentioned are either fruits or vegetables that are used to manage anaemia. Collectively, extracts of Morus alba L. and Moringa oleifera Lam. were mentioned to be safe supporting their application for use as novel food ingredient or product. It is therefore evident that food can be used as medicine. More clinical studies need to be carried out to establish the safety and efficacy of different nutri/medicinal plant extracts.

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Acknowledgments

I wish to thank the people of Kilifi County for making this study a success. I also wish to thank the University of Botswana, University of Nairobi and Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) for providing research grants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Science, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana

    Nancy O. Madigu & Kerstin A. Marobela

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya

    Damaris N. Mbui

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  1. Nancy O. Madigu
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  2. Damaris N. Mbui
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  3. Kerstin A. Marobela
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  1. Food Security and Safety Focus Area Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Mmabatho, South Africa

    Olubukola Oluranti Babalola

  2. Food Security and Safety Focus Area Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Mmabatho, South Africa

    Ayansina Segun Ayangbenro

  3. Food Security and Safety Focus Area Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Mmabatho, South Africa

    Omena Bernard Ojuederie

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Madigu, N.O., Mbui, D.N., Marobela, K.A. (2023). Is Food Medicine? Lessons From a Household Survey on Plants Used to Manage Anaemia in Kilifi County, Kenya. In: Babalola, O.O., Ayangbenro, A.S., Ojuederie, O.B. (eds) Food Security and Safety Volume 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09614-3_8

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